On This Day In History: First Siege Of Rome Began – On March 2, 537

AncientPages.com - On March 2, 537, during the Gothic War, the First Siege of Rome began and lasted for a year and nine days, from March 2, 537, to March 12, 538.

The Ostrogothic army was under king Vitiges, an Ostrogoth soldier who became king of Italy and led his people in an unsuccessful last-ditch struggle against the Eastern Roman Empire.

Witigis was elected king in the autumn of 536 to replace Theodahad, who had been deposed and killed as the Byzantine general Belisarius advanced on Rome.

Leaving a small garrison to defend Rome, Witigis massed his forces in Ravenna. Still, in March 537, he returned to besiege Rome, cutting the aqueducts to reduce Belisarius' garrison, a maneuver that backfired by turning Witigis' camp into a malaria-breeding marsh.

When the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I sent reinforcements, Witigis was forced to agree to a three-month truce, which Belisarius broke, invading Picenum and threatening Ravenna.

In March 538, the Goths abandoned the siege of Rome.

The siege was the first significant encounter between the two opponents' forces and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war.

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